When the three men appear near Mamre at the beginning of Chapter 18, there is no indication that Abraham recognizes them immediately as angels (or even God Himself). And yet, he practices radical hospitality, preparing a feast for them with his best calf and an abundance of the finest bread. Then, in Sodom, Lot’s hospitality is ultimately what saves him and his daughters. When he invites the angels into his home, he does not immediately know that they have come to foretell the city’s destruction; he simply accepts them as his guests and protects them at all costs (even giving up his virginal daughters to the angry mob???)

We can learn from these example, practicing such hospitality to all who come across our paths, as well. I am particularly inspired by the importance that the New Monastic movement places on hospitality (i.e. the Rule of the Northumbria Community includes a vow of availability to the people around them; the Potter Street Community and other similar communities have procedures in place to welcome anyone who happens upon their house). It is much harder, I think, to practice such hospitality and openness as individuals. I’m reminded of an interesting article published last fall at Jesus Manifesto, which I read as a challenge to today’s church to rethink the way we do hospitality, especially in light of the current economic crisis.

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Leaving aside the overall implications of Abraham’s dialogue with the Lord (which in itself is an amazing passage) I want to look for a moment at the word that keeps coming up over and over again: righteous. Abraham keeps pleading on behalf of the righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah, and God seems to be in agreement that the righteousness of 10 people would make up for the wickedness of everyone else. So what’s so great about righteousness?

I often tend to equate righteousness with legalism (i.e. the Pharisees, who obeyed the very letter of the law, were considered righteous). Righteousness is about doing right. Right?

Not necessarily. The Old and New Testaments agree that true righteousness is about faith:

“Abram believed the Lord and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
– Genesis 15:6

“But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe”
– Romans 3:21-22a

As a final note, I would like to say that reading these two chapters brought back great memories of Amity’s youth, and one in particular who always said that her favorite Bible story was about “Lot’s wife who turned into salt. That’s so cool!”